The 1975 Talk With Vulture

Haven't read the full article yet but that pull-quote is a brilliant statement. And no, you don't sound like an arse.

 

It reminds me of a story someone told at this most recent Thanksgiving, about a game show host who was asked about his political views, and he responded, "If it really matters to you what a game show host thinks about politics, then maybe you shouldn't vote."

 

Maybe I'm missing your point, but personally, I think everyone is entitled to an opinion on politics, and anyone is capable of having something insightful to say - regardless of their day job. Not that everyone should be required to though.

 

I believe the game show host example was illustrating that their opinion could be held in much higher regard because of their status as GSH and that's the only reason they were being asked at all.

Am I warm with that interpretation?

 

Nailed it

 

Yeah, that wasn't the point -- everyone is certainly entitled to an opinion, and each society would surely be better if everyone took the time to have a well-informed opinion. Nevertheless, the opinion of a celebrity should have no more value than, say, your next door neighbor's or your dog groomer's -- that is, unless the celebrity's platform actually has something to do with politics. To Matty's point, I'm pretty sure he's saying that there's nothing special about the political opinion of, say, Taylor Swift, that should matter more than the political opinion of your neighbor or a game show host; and it's easily possible that a lot of celebrities speak out on politics simply as a form of social posturing. And his even greater point is that, if you really care about politics, then why doesn't that flow into the thing that you're actually famous for, rather than simply being something that you talk about using your non-political platform?

 

That was a nice read. The quoted part above is great, bu this is my favourite:

"it’s ironic that mental health has, in some sense, become this trend, but people aren’t helping each other …
It pisses me off. It’s trendy to be woke. You weaponize victimhood so anybody that’s had a tough time can win a debate. That’s not a critical course of action. All these debates we see about gender, trans people, racism … nobody ever mentions that they’re enjoying it. Nobody ever references how fun it is to be right. If you’re right, you get 400,000 lovely hearts. Could they be doing it for that? Possibly. A little bit. My favorite is on Instagram where the most beautiful person takes a photo of themselves looking beautiful and gives a speech about how their self-confidence has been low. I don’t get it. I spend so much time on Instagram looking at men who take selfies. I think I’ve taken one."